Really, hats off to Ryan Clark for telling it how it is. Steeler fans who sit on their couches and feel nothing but despair over missing the playoffs are worthless. So are people who are embarrassed and ashamed of the team missing the playoffs — a rare event.

Look, it’s kind of wishy-washy to say it, but these guys are real people too. And they take pride in their work. If you think the Steelers don’t care that they haven’t had a lot of success this season, you are nuts.

It’s just not fair to trash and poke fun at the same players who we cheered and rooted for during a Super Bowl win last season. You are either with the Steelers or against them…through good and bad. Stay the course.

And preach it, Ryan.

“This year, increasingly, it’s made me realize that you have to play for your organization, you have to play for your teammates, you have to play for yourself, for your family because the people on the outside don’t understand the frustration you go through. They don’t understand the work you put into it every day. A lot of people think we come in here and practice a couple of hours and then go out on Sunday and go play the game. That’s not how it is.

*****

Clark said he will not try to find the fellow who wrote him the critical letter he posted on the bulletin board.

“I’m not upset with the guy. I don’t want to go to his house or fight him. That’s his opinion and that’s how he feels. I don’t know what he does for a living. Whether he’s an accountant. I can’t go talk to him about how he crunches numbers. I can’t go talk to him about how he teaches his class and things like that.”